Coffee Talk: Will Punk vs Taker Deliver?

Hey Wrestling Fans. Savior here with another edition of Coffee Talk. However, instead of multiple topics to touch on, I'm going back to the roots of Coffee Talk's inception and sticking to one topic here. That topic is, of course, the CM Punk vs Undertaker match at Wrestlemania. Many people were loving the fact that this match was going to happen, and at first, I was too. Then I witnessed the last two weeks of Raw with the match build up and my opinion of it has changed dramatically.

I wanted last year to be Undertaker's last Wrestlemania. And that's huge considering Undertaker has always been my all time favorite. 20-0 is a great way to just stop doing Wrestlemania matches. I don't see a need to go for 21-0, 22-0, etc. Are they really expecting a potentially 25-0 record? To me, anything that's not a 20-0 or 25-0 record is pretty underwhelming. Once you reach that 20-0 mark, that number needs to be even of sorts. 25-0, 30-0, etc. So, to me, this Undertaker match doesn't make a whole lot of sense to begin with.

But rather than throw numbers out there and all the "what looks better" stuff, I'm going to get into the meat of this whole thing. For the last four years, Undertaker was involved in "highlight of the night" type matches with HBK and HHH. The thing about those 4 matches is, even though we all knew Undertaker was going to win, there were moments where it really seemed like he actually might lose. This was especially true at WM 26. While HBK's career was on the line, and it was a surefire thing that he would lose and retire, there was a point where it looked like he had it won. He hit Sweet Chin Music, followed it up with a moonsault off the ropes to the outside through a table, threw Taker back into the ring and Superkicked him again. My job dropped because I thought Undertaker was actually going to lose after that. I couldn't believe he kicked out. Then two brutal matches the next two years with HHH. The types of matches that are memorable and always considered when thinking about the best match of the night.

Now we have CM Punk. I know everyone puts CM Punk on as high a pedestal as it gets. I like CM Punk but I do not put him quite so high. The fact is, and despite this comment is probably going to send the hounds on me as far as those who love CM Punk, he is no HHH and no HBK. He's had a very nice run as champ and did a fantastic job at being one of if not THE top heel in the business, he's just not in their league. He's the brightest star, in a sky full of dim stars. I'm not calling him overrated like others have done. I'm simply stating that the previous four Undertaker WM matches were absolute showcase matches, this is more of, just a match.

The build up isn't really there. Of course, those Punk lovers who love everything he does will say, "Oh, this feud is awesome". But look at it realistically for a second. Look at it with an opened mind. Undertaker has so far, not said a single word. He's shown up and posed. And WWE did some cool camera work to show the WM sign above the ring to close out the show. Punk brought up the death of Paul Bearer, (tasteless on WWE's part in my opinion, regardless of who's approval they got.) He stole the urn and that's the premise in which we're building this match on. To me, that's very underwhelming.

With the level Punk is on, and the underwhelming build to the match, and in the wake of Paul Bearer's death, I don't see how Punk poses even the slightest threat in this match. It leaves ZERO drama. And this isn't the same type of knowing that Undertaker will win, as it's been the past 4 years. This is a match that Punk will probably need to carry and while I like him as a performer, I don't think he can carry this match in a manner that will leave us in awe. And honestly, that's what Undertaker WM matches need to be. They need to leave a lasting impression. Punk lost this past Raw to Kane after a simple chokeslam. So how realistic is it going to be if Punk kicks out of an Undertaker tombstone? In fact, if that does happen, even once, it will ruin the match completely for me. If he kicks out of a chokeslam, fine. If he kicks out of a Last Ride. Cool. If he escapes Hell's Gate by getting to the ropes. Good for him. But if he kicks out of a Tombstone, in my opinion, that would be too much of a stretch to be considered believable. It's already a stretch to see him kick out of a Last Ride but since that's not Taker's absolute finisher anymore, I'd be okay with that. Over the last few months, I've seen anyone and everyone kick out of the GTS. And of course, Undertaker is not tapping to the Anaconda Vice. So what else does Punk have that could even threaten the streak in anyway?

My final issue, and this goes beyond all the rest of these statements I made, is this. This past week on Raw, I watched Punk attack Kane with the urn. And I watched an Undertaker struggle to even walk down to the ring. This is my biggest concern with this match taking place. Undertaker is broken down. And while he does leave it all out there for the fans to enjoy, wanting to put on the best performance, and being able to put on the best performance. are two totally different things. If he's limping to the ring, then we won't be seeing him hurdle the top rope on a suicide dive. We probably won't see him flying off the top rope with a clothesline like Kane does. And we probably will see Punk counter his way out of Old School so Taker doesn't have to balance the ropes and doing the leaping forearm smash. Underaker's move set that starts with Snake Eyes is probably going to come off very slow as well. Punk's move set, in turn, will probably be slower, and he'll use time to do taunts and things like that to draw heat so Undertaker won't have to do too much in the match.

To answer the question in the title of this blog...I think that this match WILL NOT deliver the way we all hope.

Please understand that this blog is not me hating on CM Punk. This is more about my dislike for the fact that this match is even happening. We have three weeks left before Wrestlemania and I'm truly hoping that in these three weeks, WWE will change my mind about this match. But as it stands now, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I'm looking at this match to actually be one of the lowlights of the night. Again, I'm truly hoping I'm proven wrong. But for what I've seen so far, just the nature in which Punk got the match was bland and lame. We knew Orton, Sheamus and Big Show weren't winning that Fatal Four Way. They could've have built it so much differently. And honestly, I think I might rather have seen Orton or Sheamus take on Undertaker this year, if Undertaker absolutely HAD to have a match.

A little bonus note here, Wrestlemania this year is set up to be very underwhelming as it is. So Underwhelming that Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio is potentially going to be the best performed match of the night. If I were to book Wrestlemania this year, my card would go like this. Cena vs Rock II, CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler, ADR vs Swagger, Sheamus vs Orton, Ryback vs Mark Henry, Big Show and two others vs Shield, Cesaro vs Someone, Team Hell No vs Some Tag Team. To me, that's good utilization of the bigger names on the roster which is what it should be. I can do without Undertaker at WM now and I can do without HHH at WM as well.

Ahhhhh, my cup is no empty, so I will be ending this week's Coffee Talk. I will say this. I know this edition won't be real popular. There are a lot of CM Punk fans that read my blogs and won't take kindly to my negative outlook on one of his matches. For that, I apologize. Please take this for what it is, my opinion. And not all hope is lost. We do still have three weeks left. I'll be watching and hoping for something to happen that will change my mind.

I hope you all enjoyed this edition of Coffee Talk. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Comments

This was a great in-depth blog on the subject. Not to be too forward, but if you do happen to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the match, it'd be great to hear your thoughts on it in a follow up blog too!

The guy that made that fatal four way lost his job, so it's no surprise to hear that your criticizing that match too. In all honesty, I can't stand when people say undertaker will go 25-0. End of an era my ass. The match last year was beautiful to leave off on, should have never even came back.

Hey yes i enjoyed the pros and cons of how you really broke it down to show what you meant i am a cm punk fan as well as a taker fan and i feel just as you do sadly seeing taker walk to the ring as slow as he did i wish he just stopped at 20 - 0 it just makes sense go out on top and just because the streak is alive doesn't mean that he cant be involved in some way as crazy as it sounds maybe a tag match with kane as his partner and d bryan as punks partner i really hope it does deliver because you said it perfectly with the build and physical status of this match and now punk has a minor injury that is keeping him from the matches at the house shows not a good sign and yes it was very tasteless to interrupt during the paul bearer tribute regardless of the permission just like when jerry had his heart attack they did the same thing so here's to hoping that we are all wrong and the show turns out to be a classic cheers

You guys dont know what you are talking about. CM Punk with the help of the Shield and Hayman have undertaker on the verge until the stadium goes black....then we see a hologram of paul bearer walking to the ring....eeerie with urn in his hand...OR old viginettes of him urging his undertaker on...."get up my taker" ..." my undertaker will never rest in peace" and taker finally puts CM Punk, Shield to sleep.....the urn will play a special role because it will show taker the way and light up the entire arena...

This was a great in-depth blog on the subject. Not to be too forward, but if you do happen to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the match, it'd be great to hear your thoughts on it in a follow up blog too!

Thank you for the comment. And yes, if this match does turn out to be a show stealer like most Undertaker matches are, everyone one of my readers has my promise that I will definitely follow up on this.

i for one hope punk wins. undertaker losing is the only way i can see him leaving, rather than just disappearing. It would no doubt help push punk up to that next level that you claim he won't reach. this will be 'takers "last ride" so too speak, as there is no way he will be back next year. punk will do what he's said he will and end the streak, leading to him running about for 12 months saying he's not only the best in the world, but the best of all time, leading up to a wrestlemania encounter with stone cold steve austin.

I agree with your column but it all comes down to dollars...I haven't been to a live show in years but am going to the RAW on the 1st in DC...while they won't be wrestling the Rock and HHH will be there...saw them wrestle years ago...but I'm mainly going because I figure the Undertaker will make an appearance...not expecting much more than that but it could be the last opportunity for me to see him live...even if he just comes out for a few...I support the newer talent and there are several I'd like to see pushed...but you can't underestimate the draw of the older stars...